


What a Night

by maxelau



Series: the trials and tribulations of being a superhero [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, First Dates, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25185655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxelau/pseuds/maxelau
Summary: Jaemin almost misses his first date with Jeno, why? Because he's Sae the trickster, a high school student by day, and a badass superhero by night.orSae is assigned to handle a different mission, barely missing his date with the guy he is absolutely smitten with, Aiden.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Series: the trials and tribulations of being a superhero [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822906
Comments: 15
Kudos: 77





	What a Night

**Author's Note:**

> So, I decided to continue Sae and Aiden's adventures! I think this can be read as a stand-alone but if you're up to it check out their first story: [ Hole in the Wall ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24941800)
> 
> This takes place a few months before the events of their first story. As I've said before, the series will have random snippets and stories from their adventures. Don't worry, I'll indicate their ages so you can get the gist of where the timeline falls. 
> 
> Jaemin - 17  
> Jeno - 17

Sae is rolling, literally. 

Tumbling through different rooftops with nothing but a grappling hook and adhesive boots is not only exhausting but incredibly unpleasant. When he rolls on a damp cement he has no time to think if it could ruin his suit because the second he drops from a twenty-story building into a shorter one, the only thing in his mind is physics. He’s calculating his next step, how much of his body can handle the impact and how fast should he catapult himself so that he won’t fall. That enough is tiring and he isn’t even halfway to their current mission. 

On the other hand, other supers can fly. Lucky bastards, all they have to do is— well, Sae’s unsure how flying works. Is it similar to how chicks get thrown off of their nest and they just spread their wings and you know fly—

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works idiot,” Haechan crows through Sae’s comms.

“Shit, did I say that out loud?” There’s a strain on his voice as he shoots his grappling hook and with practiced ease swings his body with the right momentum so that he can reach the next building. Thank goodness he’s in full gear and that Haechan isn’t beside him or he’d tease him for the embarrassed blush that’s blooming on his cheeks. 

“Yeah. Anyway, mission update. Where is Neo?” 

Sae rolls his eyes, it wouldn’t be a night when Neo doesn’t go AWOL and if he ever starts complaining about it Haechan will add that Sae’s being a hypocrite because in his best friend’s words— “Huh, now I know where that annoying side of you came from.” It’s not Sae’s fault when he just wants peace and quiet while disarming a battalion of bad guys. Sometimes, Haechan’s voice can be distracting. 

When Sae’s feet land perfectly on another rooftop, he stops for a moment and sighs. Patting the dust and soothe on his black fitted pants, avoiding the gun holsters on his thighs, he glances up at the night sky. Nothing much has changed like yesterday, the stars are still twinkling and the moon’s still round and bright, illuminating the darker side of Nero’s more impoverished area. 

He squints, tapping his goggles on. It zooms into the empty night sky, trying to find the familiar heat signal of Neo, of course, he does not spot his mentor. 

“Somewhere above, I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?” He huffs while he lifts his goggles, pushing his electric blue hair back. If there is one thing Sae likes with his mask is that he does not need to hide his eyes, his black mouth gear’s enough to hide both his mouth and nose. And besides, despite his powers, Sae prefers using the multitude of gadgets the HQ provides. 

There is a beat of silence before he hears Haechan sigh, “He’s at the location now isn’t he?” 

Sae winces, “Yeah.” 

He’s late and it’s not even an official mission, they’re just patrolling for the night since criminal activity at Sector 23 has risen up the past few days. Multiple cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, and assault have been reported to the authorities, and like always, despite the millions of taxes being paid, the police can’t do their jobs properly. Though, Sae is unsure if it's because there's a lack of resources or that the system is truly corrupt and there are things that need more investigating. He feels like it's the latter.

“Why don’t you just use shadow travel or whatever the hell that’s called,” Haechan suggests. 

Sae snorts, “I am not the Nico di Angelo you want me to be. It’s not shadow travel— okay maybe it’s similar, somehow.” Sae can’t admit it to Haechan because somehow the guy’s right. Sae can travel through shadows like they’re a bunch of doors he can just open and enter. Now that it's nighttime, slipping everywhere is easier, but at the same time not. Sae’s abilities, well, they’re complicated. For a seventeen-year-old guy, he’s still figuring it out. 

He’s now walking through an empty alleyway, a few blocks away from the point of location, a rundown factory at the end of the city. He kicks an empty can towards the garbage bin causing the rats bigger than his fist to scurry around. 

“Woah, a Percy Jackson reference. When did you start reading anything that involves mainstream media and fiction?” Donghyuck teases despite knowing damn well why Sae started reading the books. Sae fights the urge to say something snarky back, instead, he answers diligently because believe it or not the great trickster Sae is as whipped as any guy could get.

“Jen—Aiden is rereading the series and he said it’d be nice if we could read together,” he admits, feeling his heart pounding against his chest. He almost slipped and if Haechan did catch it, he chose to ignore it and he’s thankful for that.

“ _Right,_ Aiden, your boyfriend. I’ve been trying to make you read it since we were ten and all it took was Aiden to bat an eyelash and you come running like a puppy!”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sae immediately retorts. He’s still not sure what their status is, it’s one of those complicated barriers that they haven’t crossed yet. 

“Yet,” Haechan giggles.

Sae rolls his eyes and grabs his grappling gun. While pulling the trigger, he aims at the top of a five-story apartment building. He’s nearing an area that is bustling with street life: the food stalls, fashion shops, groceries, and every superhero’s worst nightmare, traffic. 

It’s time to use the shadows.

‘I’m disconnecting,” Sae replies and he hears Haechan’s loud huff crackling through the comms. 

“Alright, make sure to connect immediately when you get out, please.” The shadows and technology don’t mesh well, a piece of information both Sae and Haechan learned while they were still wee little kids. It caused an energy disruption and gave Sae a migraine that lasted for days. They never fully understood what caused it and even with Haechan’s numerous theories, none of them really made any sense. 

“Yeah, yeah.”

Sae isn’t sure if Haechan got this response because by the time he uttered those words he was already zipping through the night air. With his free hand, the one with the fingerless gloves, he snaps his fingers, and at the very top, a black vortex opens. Sae gulps, here he goes, with his foot touching the cement, he pushes himself and jumps into the shadows, letting the cold air swallow him alive. And just like that Sae, the trickster disappears into the shadows. 

When he drops on the rooftop beside the rundown factory he immediately opens the holographic mechanism that is found on his forearm. One might assume he’s checking for vitalities or the news or any superhero-related agendas, when in fact, Sae is simply looking at the time. In old fashion digital numbers blaring red, the clock says it's 7:30 PM. He exhales a sigh of relief, he can still make it on time. 

Being late during a few rounds of patrolling is one thing Sae is known for, but being late for a date? Oh, that will never happen. Never, because this is his first date and he does not want to mess things up.

He jumps down on the rusty fire escape. The tarnished metal groans and rocks under his boots and for a moment, he had to catch his balance. As he makes his way down the stairs, he opens his comms and is instantly greeted by Haechan’s frantic typing.

“What’s going on?” Sae asks when he’s finally on the pavement, stepping on another puddle of some sort. 

“Oh thank god you’re back. Neo just contacted me,” Haechan says with a force of urgency in his tone.

“Don’t worry I’m only a few meters away from the factory—”

“No, you’re being assigned on a new mission.”

Sae halts in his tracks, “What?” He can’t have a new mission now. Once again, he opens the hologram and checks the time, only five minutes have passed but really, when it comes to missions, no one knows how many hours it could lead to, and if one is unlucky it could even be days. 

Sae curses under his breath but replies anyway, “Fine, shoot.” One of the rules embedded on him since he started training 

“That’s more like it,” he hears the smile in Haechan’s voice. “Leon’s been tied up. It’s your favorite baddie, Dr. Nigma.” The moment Haechan drops the infamous name, Sae pivots on his heel, turning his back from the rustic factory. _Leon, that idiot._ He thought to himself. For years Nigma has been trying to get his hands on Leon, a shapeshifter. Sae is not sure why, but one time when he was out on a mission to capture Nigma with Apollo, an archer from Moonlight City, Nigma might have evil monologued her diabolical plans. If Sae could remember clearly, she wanted to take some of Leon’s DNA and use it for her own experiment—the next generation of homo sapiens she said. But halfway through, while hanging upside down on the ceiling, the blood rushing down his brain, Sae was losing his senses. Thankfully, Apollo’s knack for not having any superpowers, just Olympic worthy athletic abilities saved their sorry asses and the rest was history. 

Until Dr. Nigma got out of Nero State Penitentiary the other week and not a single super has traced her tracks. She's a slippery bastard until 

“I’m sending you the coordinates now. Do you need anything, refill on your ammo, smoke bombs?”

“No,” Sae says while placing his goggles back on and on time, a small map of the city pops on his vision and in the northern part a small red circle pulses. 

“Direct line to R04 would be amazing though,” Sae admits as he runs on another set of rooftops, hiding from the prying eyes of the civilians. He prays Haechan doesn’t question further, a wish he ought said a little sooner.

“And why should I do that?” 

“Come on Haechan,” he huffs after jumping over a set of fences. “I just need to talk to him. It’s nothing serious, just two friends talking.”

“Right,” Haechan drawls sarcastically. “Just two bros talking five feet apart—”

“Haechan,” Sae warns. There's a brief of silence before Haechan finally gives up.

“Fine! You owe me one Na!” 

Sae doesn’t reply and chooses to ignore the little slip of a tongue from Donghyuck. He glides through the city, ignoring his real name while he dawns the title of Sae. 

Believe it or not, wearing a suit or in Leon’s words, a costume is quite liberating. Oftentimes, even though he does not want to believe it, prancing around the cityscape in it can be fun. No one knows the real him, no one knows his secret ID—where he goes to school, who his friends are, his favorite pizza topping, the TV series he rewatches when he feels down, or the apple of his eyes.

But he can't stay in it forever, of course, the uniform needs to be maintained, repaired, and upgraded. Cleaning is not out of the question, obviously, all the soot, dust, and blood needs to be washed off. 

And then there's his life outside all of the high-tech gadgets, outside his alias, a life without his electric blue hair, his black suit, and well, he can't really leave his superpower behind. That thing’s embedded in him until the day he dies. But that's beside the point, Sae’s life doesn't only revolve around the crime-fighting, villain busting agenda. He’s also a teenager who’s going through the woes of puberty and well, life in general. 

“Hello?” Sae hears and his boots skids through the wet pavement and he almost hits his head on a pole. That deep voice, oh god, he knows that voice all too well. Thankfully, Sae’s reflexes are in tune with his body because he manages to grab the pole and click the adhesive on the heel of his boots before crashing. 

Sae grunts to himself, _a little warning would have been nice Haechan_. Now, he can’t stop the erratic beating of his heart. 

“Hey babe,” the words slip out of his mouth, and he almost takes it back then he realizes what the hell. If he's going to do this, he might as well be upfront and cool about it. He leans on the pole trying to calm himself. This isn’t really a good time to feel things, especially giddy. He wants to be calm and collected since he’s on a freaking mission, but for so long, he always wanted to call him _babe._

Being a sidekick and in Aiden’s case a vigilante, dating isn’t advised. It’s not banned but it isn’t encouraged either. Emotions are too complicated and when someone’s ID is discovered anyone close to them is 

“ _Babe_? Huh, is that our thing now?” 

“I— well,” he stops, slapping a hand on his forehead. _Why did I say that?_

“I’m kidding, _babe,_ why are you calling?,” Aiden giggles and if it wasn’t for the mask, Sae’s sudden grin would freak everyone out because he never ever breaks into a burst of laughter let alone a smile. 

“I just finished a drug bust at Moonlight City, Apollo says hi,” Sae hears a chirp greeting in the background. “What time will you be arriving at the pizzeria?” Aiden continues.

“That’s the thing, I have a mission and I know I said we’d meet before 8 and I don’t know how long this will take because Nigma captured Leon and the restaurant’s about to close and I don’t want to ruin anything. This is our first date and well—”

Aiden hums, cutting Sae from his ramblings, “Calm down, breathe.” And he does so. There’s something about Aiden’s voice that is soothing. Maybe, it's because Aiden’s always level-headed. He’s not the smartest super but he’s the most empathetic one and understands what everyone’s going through, probably has something to do with his upbringing, Sae’s not sure. Nevertheless, Sae appreciates it.

“I can wait for you and order take-out,” Aiden suggests.

Sae’s running again, jumping across buildings, swinging around like that one video game about a man who got bitten by some radioactive spider. In his earpiece he could hear the blast of strong air and sometimes the rumbling of planes, Aiden must be flying back. Sae should probably wrap up their call.

“I take it we'll be doing this at the watchtower,” Sae asks. 

Aiden chuckles once more,” Yeap. You know how things are at my place and well with yours...”

“Too many people, especially my step-brothers. They’ll pry,” Sae sighs while he pirouettes midair, hitting a scumbag thief he found while on the way. 

“Sounds fun,” Aiden mused. There’s a hint of jealousy in Aiden’s voice but Sae doesn’t comment on it. Out of their aliases, Sae knows who Aiden is but not his entire history, no one really likes talking about their life when they’re not in their suits. It’s an unspoken rule, no one is allowed to pry unless one decides to open about their past. In Aiden’s situation, all Sae knows is the guy grew up alone, with one blood-relative in his life. 

“Trust me, you wouldn’t like it,” he mutters instead making Aiden chuckle. 

“Alright Sae, if you say so.”

Sae takes a break on one of the higher buildings in central areas of the city. If he wants to get back early then he might as well travel through the shadows and skip swinging around town. 

“I need to go.”

“I know, go kick some ass, and please don't get severely hurt.” 

“Okay, watchtower later?” He fights the grin on his face. It’s ridiculous, but he can’t deny the excitement he’s feeling. It’s the little blooming feeling in his chest. It’s warm, like hot chocolate on a winter morning. Comforting, familiar, but at the same exhilarating. 

Wow, Na Jaemin has a date.

“Bye Na, see you later. Aiden out.”

* * *

Sae takes one of the vents in Dr. Nigma’s laboratory, an opening he found after Haechan has sent him the blueprints. Gently, he drops down behind Nigma’s goons, lowers his mask, and puts on his usual facade whenever he’s out to kick some butt. 

_Time to play, boys._

With a terrifying grin, he hides behind one of the guards using the idiot’s shadow, and like always, he taps his back before disappearing to the guard’s comrade’s shadow. 

“Was that you Haneul?” one of them asks, his voice shaking. This makes the grin on Sae’s face bigger. He laughs as he slithers to the shadow on the ceiling. The two guards hear it, the cackle akin to a hyena taunting its prey. Both of Nigma’s guards unconsciously cower together while Sae reaches for his knife. Sae swoops to the other corner, closer to the light but that does not matter, as the guards use their guns aimlessly in the empty hallway, Sae feels their fear growing and his powers spiking at an alarming rate. 

He laughs once again, bullets clinking on the floor, and in a swift motion, the hallway is swallowed by nothing but darkness.

After finding Leon tied in a metal chair surrounded by dead animals, Sae, despite his abilities, has managed to strain a shoulder-muscle, probably from all the grappling and beating up the goons. When he frees Leon, his brother gives him a quick tap on the shoulder, pointing at Nigma’s laptop, and with his shadows, Jaemin has managed to steal it.

Sadly, Dr. Nigma isn’t in the building and the only ones left are her minions who Jaemin has already beaten up. The good news is, Dr. Nigma has not extracted any blood, fluid, a piece of hair, or anything that has Leon’s DNA on it. And besides, the mission protocol is to save Leon. According to Neo, since Dr. Nigma just got back and HQ needs more leads on who’s funding her research. 

She can wait. 

Wrapping the whole ordeal rather quickly, Sae runs out of the building and into the alleyway. Leon morphs into a jaguar in order to catch up to his brother. When he finally reaches Sae, Leon changes back to his human form and asks, “It’s tonight isn’t it?”

Sae licks his lips, “yeah.”

Leon looks down, almost embarrassed by the turn of events, “Sorry man, shit, I should not have let my guard down. I’ll do the reports.” Sae nods on that, less paperwork, the more time he can spend with Aiden.

“It’s okay, it’s not like she has successfully tormented you,” Sae pats his brother’s back. He turns to his forearm and opens his hologram. If he uses his so-called shadow travel then he can be slightly late. With their final words, Leon transforms into an eagle before flying back home.

On the other hand, Sae snaps his fingers and once again, enters the darkness.

* * *

The moment he slips out of the shadow and into the watchtower the first thing he sees isn't the captivating view of Nero City’s nightlife nor the twinkling stars or the big round moon illuminating the pitch-black room. Sae’s eyes instantly land on the glowing floating figure that’s facing the glass panel windows of the tower. 

By the looks of it, Aiden is meditating. His cloak is flowing despite no signs of any open windows. Since they started working together, whenever Aiden meditates, collecting his energy source from whatever mystic energy he draws from, Sae is extremely entranced by it. At first, if he’s honest, it was a bit creepy, especially during their earlier meetings, when they still hid their identities. Who wouldn’t find a floating hooded white-masked figure terrifying, especially if one has a fox for a face with white glowing eyes in the dark? 

But these days, he finds it peaceful and warm. Whenever Aiden does this it means the work for the day is done and he can finally breathe without worrying if someone will suddenly bash his head or kill him. 

Sae doesn’t want to disturb Aiden. So, instead, he looks around the room with prying curious eyes. At one end of the room, he sees a discarded mask, the familiar white and red kitsune mask. Beside it, three pizza boxes can be seen and Sae can’t help but smile. If this was a regular Friday night, the boxes would be a little higher—ten at least, the lights would be on, the projector propped on one side of the wall would be rolling another generic horror movie, and the room would be a little louder. The team would be here, cheering, coke spilling somewhere along with chips and the boastful antics would be everywhere, who caught the meanest baddie or the worst civilian or press encountered. By the end of the night, stomachs would be full, stories would be swapped, and they’d be too trashed to even function if ever an emergency happens.

But this Friday night is different, Sae lowers his goggles along with his mask as he watches Aiden once again. His hood is drawn down and the familiar hazelnut fluffy hair is peeking and Jaemin can’t help but want to ruffle it. The once friendly interactions have changed. These days their subtle touches have become more than friendly. And after that _incident_ things really went on a different route between the two. Simply being friends isn’t an option anymore.

Jaemin rests his back against the cold metal wall while he watches Aiden burst into literal flames. A normal occurrence to the team, that Jaemin doesn’t even bat an eyelash whenever Aiden’s engulfed in a fiery orange hue that later turns into blue. 

Slowly, he slides down and the moment his buttocks hit the floor, he finally lets his body relax. Whenever he lets his muscles loosen up and his guard down is the time when the pain and bruises start to throb all over his body. Jaemin groans. He should probably go to the medical bay and get patched up but he’s too tired, no, exhausted is the perfect word. 

Besides, the sight of Jeno is enough for now. 

* * *

When he has absorbed enough energy to last him another day, Jeno gracefully lowers himself on to the floor. He knows Jaemin is already here. It's hard to ignore the strong force of chaos energy radiating from him. 

“Jaemin what the hell happened to you?” He sighs the moment he spots his friend—boyfriend? He’s still not sure what they are but hopefully, by tonight they would finally clear the air out. Jaemin looks exhausted. His hair is sticking in all possible directions, there’s a smudge of soot in his cheeks. This worries Jeno. Without any hesitation, he discards his cape and is instantly on Jaemin’s side.

“You’re projecting, I can feel it. Stop worrying,” Jaemin fiddles with his gloves, avoiding eye contact. Jaemin’s powers never cease to surprise him. Ah yes, one of Jaemin’s abilities is to feel negative energies and what’s mindblowing about it is that he can absorb it. Chaos energy is a concept no one could really grasp in their reality. It is such a rare feat that studies on it are barely found and other times, credible. Unlike Jeno’s abilities, Jaemin is as mysterious as any other superhero’s real identity. 

“I apologize.” 

Jaemin looks up at him, he raises his hand and strokes Jeno’s cheeks gently. His calloused cold fingers grazing his warm skin. No matter how many times he does this, it never fails to send a small thrill in Jeno’s spine, his skin shivers, and his mouth dry. It’s a greeting Jaemin has been doing ever since the _incident_ happened. It’s a little too intimate for Jeno’s liking but it’s also something only both of them share, a hidden moment only the two of them can understand. 

“I’m kinda sore,” Jaemin sheepishly admits, brushing the bangs off of Jeno’s eyes. “Yeah?” Jeno whispers back. This is dangerous, extremely out of hand dangerous. Jeno could not help but stare into the deepest depths of Jaemin’s ink-black eyes. 

Jaemin leans towards Jeno, inclining his head, and it's like he’s entirely in Jeno’s space—it smells like him with a hint of grease and what seems like iron, could be blood. When Jaemin opens his mouth he feels the rush of warm air fan his lips. Jeno tilts his head willingly as if allowing Jaemin to kiss him but before anything could happen, he pulls away, his self-control making a comeback. Unlike Jaemin, Jeno’s level-headed. He's one of the calmest in the team. Sure, Jaemin’s cool too, aloof at times. But he’s also hot-headed and easily swayed by his surroundings. 

“Want me to ease the pain, Master Na?” Jeno instead says in a mocking voice, copying the household butlers that surround Jaemin’s life. Jaemin glares at him.

“Just because I'm all bruised up does not mean I can't kick your ass Jeno.”

“All right, all right. I'm kidding. So, massage or not? We can eat later and watch one or your stupid documentaries about whales or you’ll finally listen to me. A young man with a more refined taste,” Jeno says and catches Jaemin rolling his eyes but with a small smile on his face.

“Pizza and a massage from one of the hottest guys in Nero City? I might be the luckiest bastard alive,” Jaemin grins while he removes his leather jacket and unbuckles the holsters on his waist and thighs, giving his body space to breathe. 

Jeno sits behind him and positions his hands on Jaemin’s shoulders. Jaemin groans. Partly because there’s a sudden, discomfort, endorphin-encased burn in his muscles, and probably because Jeno has warm, strong hands. Jeno spreads his fingers over Jaemin’s tight-fit black shirt, kneading just enough pressure that Jaemin lets another groan slip out of his mouth. 

This is nice, Jaemin thought to himself. It’s a little gentler compared to Donghyuck or Mark’s techniques, but still with enough pressure being used that he feels like Jeno is trying to melt his stiff muscles back into actual tissues. 

“You okay?” Jaemin doesn’t notice Jeno’s question. Sort of hard to concentrate when this is ongoing. He only manages a curt nod. 

“If you say so,” Jeno replies, stroking with his thumb up Jaemin’s exposed nape, making him shiver. Jeno holds a gasp in his throat when he hears moan, he completely melts in Jeno’s touch and holy shit, it would be a lie if Jeno did not just feel something warm bubble in the pit of his stomach. 

Did he just find out what Na Jaemin’s weakness is? 

Gulping, Jeno continues the same action he did earlier and Jaemin without a doubt, purrs. _Oh, this is bad_. This is uncharted territory. 

Moments later, Jeno finds himself propped on one of the empty tables in the watchtower. Jaemin is standing between his knees, Jeno’s hands sneaking under his shirt, feeling those strong muscle contracts while he nibbles on Jaemin’s lips. The kiss is warm, wet, and slow. They stay like that for a few seconds, hearing each other’s breath and erratic heartbeats. 

Slowly, Jeno opens his mouth, licking Jaamin’s lips, asking for that sweet permission to deepen it. When Jaemin does so, it made Jeno's chest flutter all over again. Jaemin makes a noise so deep in his throat; he reaches to touch Jeno’s face, gently. Like always, the familiar touch and calloused fingers of Jaemin make his skin prickle and his body overheat, quite literally. These days, thankfully, Jeno has gotten a hold of his powers and is able to avoid mixing it with his emotions.

Later on, when they finally break away from each other, Jaemin says, “We said pizza after a massage.”

“You started it.”

“I couldn't say no to your alluring eyes, babe. Though the pizza is already cold,” Jaemin frowns, a twinge of disappointment in his voice. 

“Babe” Jeno echoes. “I like the sound of that.” 

There it is again, the small shy smile on Jaemin’s face. “You do?

Jeno nods and kisses Jaemin once more, “babe, babe, babe,” Jaemin whispers as Jeno showers his face with soft flutter kisses. 

“Besides, I can heat the pizzas myself,” Jeno announces proudly, huffing a relief sigh when Jaemin tickles his neck with a kiss.

“Fuck, I forgot about your powers." Jaemin pulls away looking flustered. Jeno simply laughs and swoops in one more time, capturing Jaemin's mouth.

* * *

“Hey, do you think things would have gone better if we were, you know, normal?” Jaemin asks when they're both too tired to clean up the scattered empty pizza boxes on the floor. On the screen, the credits are finally rolling, casting this subtle glow on Jeno's face. It highlights his features, a tall nose, a strong jaw, and a beauty mark that sits perfectly below his eyes. Jaemin's hand itches. He wants to stoke his cheeks once again.

“What do you mean?” Jeno faces him.

“Like today, our first date was you know, no candlelight dinner—”

“We were only going to eat at a pizzeria and play at an arcade. I had been to ones that were worse,” Jeno admits, stroking Jaemin’s arms in comfort. Thank god, he didn’t seem to take any offense on that. 

“Point taken, but what I mean is, who cancels a date because they have to kick some ass? And remember when we first– _the incident_ ,” Jaemin coughs, an evident blush on his face. They both avert their gazes, finding refuge at the different trinkets and whatnots in the watchtower. 

Jeno clears his throat, hoping it eases the tension in the room, “Yeah, yeah. Okay, I got your point.” 

“See? Who goes on a first date here! In the watchtower of all places while wearing their super suits,” Jaemin laments, eyes still trained on Jeno's.

Jeno tilts his head as if he’s thinking of what to say but he already knows the right words that could probably ease Jaemin's mind. He steadies his gaze, watching Jaemin’s eyes twinkle in the night.

“What is the meaning of normal?” Jeno asks and when Jaemin just looks at him with that confused knot on his eyebrows, he continues, “See? It’s such a vague word. In the eyes of others, we are not normal but to us it's different. People with our abilities? This could be normal.”

And maybe Jeno is right. 

* * *

It’s only been thirty minutes since Jaemin arrived home after his date with Jeno. He didn’t even announce his arrival but he did send Benedict, his butler, a text stating that he’d be late. Hopefully, the old guy gets his message. 

Currently, he can’t fall asleep, he’s been tossing and turning, eyes blared open. He can’t seem to find the perfect position that could help him enter dreamland. 

He shoots up from his bed, breathing heavily, realizing why he cannot fall asleep. He forgot to ask Jeno one important question. 

He facepalms, _fuck I didn’t ask him to be my boyfriend._ He’s about to call the shadows and go to Jeno’s home, then he remembers he has no idea where the Lee residence was. In the end, he sits on his bed staring angrily at his window. There’s nothing but the bright moon and swaying trees. He sighs, maybe he should text him but decides against it. It sounds lazy. This is his first potential relationship and he wants to put a little effort into it. 

Jaemin is imagining his fifth grand scheme to woo Jeno, not that he hasn’t been doing this for the past two years when he caught sight of the familiar flap of a white and red cape.

In mere seconds, Jaemin is standing in front of his window and sees Aiden without his mask. Jeno is perching haphazardly on his windowsill. He waves and beams. 

Jaemin is so speechless that he just stares. Unable to process this outcome of his night. On the other side of the closed window, Jeno raises a questioning eyebrow before tapping the glass. Jaemin forces the window open with jerky movements. 

He isn’t sure what to say but before he could stop the question, “What the hell are you doing here?” flies out of his mouth.

Jeno blinks, hovering in midair, and all Jaemin could think of is how the hell is he going to explain this to Taeyong when the security cameras in the mansion show that there’s a floating guy outside, not just some random floating dude, it’s the Aiden. 

He catches Jeno by the sleeve and tries to reel him inside.

When Jeno lowers himself, still midair, cupping Jaemin’s face, he says, “Hello babe.” Jaemin stops breathing for a few seconds, still comprehending everything. “Hey,” he exhales when he slightly gets a hold of himself. 

“How did you find me?” The words clumsily tumble out of his mouth. Jeno smirks a little, his hands falling off of Jaemin’s face. “I may not be the smartest super but I’m not an idiot Na. Everyone knows where the Lee estate is located.”

“I— that makes sense,” Jaemin fiddles with the hem of his shirt, then it hits him. Jeno’s still wearing his suit, on the other hand, Jaemin is drowning in an old jersey shirt Taeyong owned and a pair of boxers. He blushes and tries to cower but this makes Jeno chuckle instead. 

“Wow, I never thought I’d see Sae this red. What’s making you blush young master?” this time Jeno finally sits on the windowsill, pushing his hood back revealing his fluffy brown hair. 

“Stop,” Jaemin grits through his teeth. “What are you even doing here Lee?” he crosses his arms. 

“And he’s back.”

“Come on Jeno.”

“Fine,” Jeno grins. He drops down onto the floorboard and approaches Jaemin, grabbing his hands. 

“Boyfriends?” There it is, that magic word. It's that one question that could change their relationship, god, even the course of their lives for good. 

Jaemin gapes, “O-oh?” Unsure of what to say.

Jeno squeezes his hand reassuringly. Jaemin looks at Jeno one more time. He just looks at him, studies him, and when he sees that stupid goofy smile and the way his eyes crinkle in the sides and turn into crescents then maybe leaping into something more is worth it. This is Jeno after all and god knows how long he's been wishing for this day to happen.

He gulps and licks his lips, “Boyfriends.”

“Good,” Jeno beams once again. His lips brushing Jaemin’s. Not in an innocent manner, like a tease, hot, fiery, passionate, and demanding. And before Jaemin can register what is happening, he loses himself. “Jaemin,” Jeno whispers, prolonging each letter as if to savor them. This makes Jaaemin smile, his heart fluttering at Jeno’s voice as he clasps his hands on either side of Jeno’s face.

This feels right.

When Jeno flies away, Jaemin is startled by the sudden creak of his bedroom door. He turns around and is greeted by his mentor standing there. 

Taeyong’s wearing a white crisp suit like he just came home from one of his galas. He has a small inquiring smile on his handsome face and Jaemin avoids looking him in the eye. He’s not sure if it’s because he’s embarrassed or he knows he’s about to get lectured, he hopes it's the former. 

“So?” Taeyong teases. “Aiden, huh? Not bad.” Okay, maybe the latter sounded better. 

Jaemin groans and walks back to his bed. He plops, face-first on to his pillows, and when Taeyong only laughs, Jaemin lifts his middle finger. The laughter only ends when the door is finally shut and Jaemin is left alone to his own devices. 

Well, what a night.

**Author's Note:**

> do y'all know who Neo is? For now, the other heroes are kept secret and yes Jaemin has 4 step-siblings. The next story will most likely be about his past and how he met Jeno. Who knows?
> 
> [ twt ](https://twitter.com/jenseungs)   
>  [ cc ](https://curiouscat.me/jenofullsun)   
> 


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